


Staring at the Sun

by meowriah



Category: Trolls (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Best Friends, Crush at First Sight, F/F, F/M, Friends With Benefits, Partying, Recreational Drug Use, Underage Drinking, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:01:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25833910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meowriah/pseuds/meowriah
Summary: Letting her roommates choose a house while she was out of town was the best and worst decision Barb has ever made. Now Barb must face junior year living next door to the biggest party house on campus. And even worse, her new neighbor is devastatingly hot.
Relationships: Branch & Queen Poppy (Trolls), Queen Barb/Queen Poppy (Trolls)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 33





	1. Move-in and Move Past It

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! Im writing this with no plan so excuse how much editing probably should've been done but is not.
> 
> Also I see a lot of Human AUs that give characters normal hair colors but everyone is keeping their fun hair/eye colors in this AU!
> 
> Also the pairing for this fic is Barb/Poppy, but im divided on if Poppy will also be in a relationship with Branch or not. So lmk what you think of poly Poppy and that'll help me decide! Either way they'll be ride or die best friends.

When Barb had left campus for the year she'd given her roommates exactly one task: Find a new place to live. The old shitty apartment complex they were in before was kicking them out due to noise complaints and they'd been scrambling to find a new place before the summer was over. It was a complete relief when the call came from Riff that they'd actually managed to find something, just two weeks before everyone was scheduled to be back on campus.

"It's a full house so we like don't have to worry about noise complaints or any of that shit." 

"How'd you end up finding a place like that on our budget?" Barb let her head hit the floor as she flopped upside down on her dad's beat up old couch. "Seriously, from what i remember we weren't exactly packing full house money."

"Oooh yeah well...we've got some rowdy neighbors? Sid found the place through this guy he knows, that DJ guy, and he says it gets like wild. But yeah so the landlord' Chaz, is like totally chill and offers it lower if you promise no drama." 

"Wild neighbors? Sounds fuckin awesome!" 

"Actually they're more-"

"Anyway it sounds clutch, but I've gotta go. I'll see you in a week, gotta get in before all the freshies. Rock on, dude." Barb hung up the phone before her friend could even get in a goodbye. 

It was a bummer spending her summer at home while all of her friends got to stay back in their college town, but after a full year away from home summer was the only time she got to spend with her dad. This summer had been good, better than last years when he'd forgotten her name, but Barb really worried about what could happen in the span of an academic year. 

As if summoned by her thoughts the familiar whirring of her dad's chair preceded his entrance into the living room. Not to far behind him, his live-in caretaker hovered just far enough to be noticed before Barb gave him a nod that let him know he could leave things to her. She scrambled into a more correct seat as her dad rolled himself over. 

"Barbara! I was just thinking I haven't heard you play in the longest time! I'm starting to think you might've forgotten how to rock." The grin on her old man's face was infectious and Barb grinned back as she hopped up to grab her guitar from the corner of the room.

"Oh I can still play, old man," Barb teased back as she began the intro to Cherry Bomb, "but I may forgot the lyrics so I hope you still know how to sing."

Her dad's voice was weaker now, not the steady sound she remember from childhood, but as he sang to her she could still remember the times he'd sing her to sleep.  
She may miss her friends, but while she had him these summers would always belong to her dad.

_________________

"What. The. Fuck."

Barb stood, her eyes glued to the absolute monstrosity of a house that stood in front of her. Slowly she turned to her roommates, all of whom lounged on the porch of their new place like their wasn't an actual disaster right next to them. 

"What the fuck???" Barb gestured wildly at the neighboring house, looking for some explanation of the insanity.

Her new house was wonderful, from what she could see. A victorian style all painted dark blue and brown. Totally chill, nothing out of the ordinary. No, the problem was that right next to it, only a wooden fence keeping them apart, was the most garish thing Barb has ever seen. The house was also a Victorian, but painted a pastel pink with accents of orange and lavender. The neighbors side of the fence was outfitted with rainbows and nonsensical designs and, from Barb could see as she walked up, the front yard was full of tacky decorations like lawn gnomes and pink flamingos. 

"You said the neighbors were wild!" The accusation was thrown at Riff as she stomped up the stairs to the porch.

Sid sniffed loudly and shrugged his shoulders, "They are though," he huffed out, "they brought us a pie when we moved in cause they were partying for a full day."

"Good pie." Carole added, unhelpfully, from her place in a raggedy old hammock she'd set up on the porch.

Barb stared at them and threw her hands up, "A pie!? Who brings over a pie to apologize. Are we living next to like Mr. Rogers??"

"Whoa there, shouty!"  
"Too early for the attitude."  
"You don't like pie?"

Barb whipped around to find five annoyingly colorful asian girls peaking over the fence at her. "Were you eavesdropping?" She snapped, glaring and snarling.  
It baffled her to be met with giggles from the highlighter colored group. Barb had met girl's like this before, or at least she thought she had, and she'd expected them to back down when confronted but they looked at her more like free entertainment than anything else.  
"I don't think anyone would call it eavesdropping."  
"Not at the volume you were speaking at."  
"I mean like who doesn't like pie?"  
"소리 치기에는 너무 이르다"

"Im sorry, who the fuck even are you? Cause last i checked I don't remember asking for any shitty nosy neighbors."

The blue haired girl huffed and rolled her eyes. "We don't owe you an introduction if that's how you're gonna be." She spun away from facing the rockers and signaled the other four that they were leaving. Before crossing the edge of the fence onto the sidewalk she turned back and called to the angry red-head, "By the way we aren't your neighbors!" "나중에 봐 바보 야!"

Barb glared after them before slamming open the door to her new place and storming inside. "Seriously! What the fuck!"

On the porch the three remaining outside exchanged glances and Sid sighed as he slouched over the banister, "Man, no way we're getting another pie now."


	2. Stereo Surround Sound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barb gets invited to a party. Doesn't go. Then...kinda goes.

Despite the fever dream house next door Barb found she really loved her new place. It had dark wood floors throughout and weird rooms that made strange little in between spaces that were easy to hide away in. Plus, the place had a sweet ass basement that was perfect for band practice.  
Her favorite place though had to be the back garden. It was wide and around the edge were raised planters that she couldn't wait to get working on, a perfect place to grow peppers! 

For all the info she'd gotten about her neighbors she hadn't actually seen them yet so maybe her roommates had been exaggerating about the noise level. She was basking in the quiet as she pulled up weeds that had grown while the place was uninhabited, tearing and tossing them over her shoulder with single-minded focus.

"This is the most angry gardening I've ever seen."

Once again peering over the fence was the same head of blue hair she'd encountered two days ago. "You know for someone who is NOT my neighbor you're sure popping up next door a lot."

"We're house sitting!" A blinding green joined the blue with an excited wave down at Barb. 

It took all of four seconds for pink and yellow to join the other two. "The whole Snack Pack is off like camping or something." 

"One last trip before school starts."

Barb rolled back onto her heels as she glared up at the group. It seemed like they were spending more time minding her business than actually house sitting from her point of view. She stood abruptly and caught sight of the final girl cleaning leaves out of a hot tub. "Doesn't look like most of you are any use." 

"Doesn't look like you've ever heard of a shower." The neon yellow girl snapped back, squeaking as green elbowed her for the remark. 

"I'm gardening, of course im dirty!" Barb snapped, "Look you don't even live here so how about you fuck off."

A group "geeeeez" came from the girls and blue sighed before holding her hands up in surrender. "Relax, hot head, we told Poppy she had a new neighbor and she wanted us to invite you," she gestured to Barb's house, "all of you to a welcome back party. The day before classes start. It'll be totally awesome."

The girls seemed about done with her after that and dropped down off their tiptoes to disappear back behind the fence. Barb scoffed at the invite, putting it out of her head as she turned her focus back to the dirt.

__________________

She'd meant to ignore the invite entirely, but on Sunday at 11am Barb was literally shocked out of her bed as the deep sound of bass ripped through her bedroom. Frazzled and confused she listened to the booming upbeat music, determined to get back to sleep through this. She closed her eyes, snuggled deep into her covers, and-

"LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!"

The high pitched voice rattled around in her skull and eliminated any thoughts of sleep Barb had been entertaining. She slammed her window open and leaned out trying to catch what the fuck was going on. Outside her window only gave her a good view of part of the front lawn and the side of her neighbors house, but she could easily make out the crowd even with her limited view.

If the house had seemed garish before it was absolutely hideous now, the groups of people all in bright clashing patterns and ridiculous accessories. Barb couldn't make out any of the highlighter girls that had invited her, but they'd blend right in with this crowd of clowns.

Barb slammed her pillow into her wall allowing herself a little tantrum as she was forced to start her day. Throwing on a Mastodon tee that had been hacked into a crop top and a pair of shittily cut-up jean shorts she stormed downstairs and into the kitchen. She expected to be met with equally grumpy roommates but instead Carole sat eating lucky charms in a bikini and Riff actually looked like a functional human being. 

"Where's Sid?" Barb asked, shooting suspicious looks at her two awake roommates.

"Sleeping." Carole said, finishing her bowl and grabbing a pair of sunglasses that sat on the table. She stood up, popped them onto her face and let out a burp that would've made her father proud. "We're heading over to the party of you wanna come."

Barb felt her jaw drop as she looked between Carole, who ignored her shock, and Riff, who shrunk away guiltily. "Seriously??"

"Seriously. They're like...cool, Barb. You should meet them."

"COOL!? No way anyone hosting a bunch of rainbow rejects is someone I'm wasting my time on."

Carole shrugged and caught the back of Riff's shirt as she dragged him towards the door. "Okay well you were invited too so...you know where to find us." He called out before the door slammed shut behind them.

Barb glared after them before pouting and preparing her own breakfast of reese's puffs. She didn't need to go to some stupid party with neighbors she'd never even met. Who even started a party at 11am!? She'd bet by noon they'd be bored of the circus next door and come crawling back. In the meantime she had plenty to do by herself!

At noon, she practiced guitar in the front room waiting for her friends to return and admit they were wrong.

At three, Sid awoke but quickly disappeared out the door to join the other traitors.

At five, Barb learned that noise blocking headphones did indeed work for most noises, but absolutely did not block out that same peppy voice that had woken her. "NEVER STOP PARTYING!!!" 

At seven, Barb ate Chinese takeout in the basement, the only place safe from the tremors that shook the house as the DJ turned things up a notch.

At ten, Barb watched the wild party rage into the night from her bedroom window. There was no way that shitty party was fun enough to last 12 hours. Don't these people get tired???

At 1, Barb was done. They were literally setting off fireworks next door and while most people would take that as a finale she was sure it wasn't cause intermittently that same annoying voice would proclaim, "WE'RE GONNA PARTY UNTIL THE SUN COMES UP!!!".  
Well if they planned to keep her up all night than FINE. If you can't beat em join em.

Barb charged down her stairs, out her door, and down and around the path that seperated her house from the next. She caught side of Sid sitting on the front porch, smoking with two tall women who were both rocking bright bundles of braids. He raised the horns when he saw her, but seemed quite content with his position.  
It was only as she approached the door to the house that Barb's confidence waned. She pushed her way into the house and through the crowds, looking for where ever the alcohol was. It felt like forever before she stumbled across the kitchen and what looked like the holy land for alcohol, Barb had only seen a larger stock of booze in an actual liquor store. 

"Well shit, they got this right at least." She marveled, looking over the beer selection. Her guard was down just enough that she didn't even notice the bright characters honing in on her.

"The grumpy one emerges from her cave!"  
Two pink cheeked girls suddenly squeezed into her sides and Barb barely had to look to recognize blue and green.

"You two. Where's the rest of your crayon pack?" Barb sneered, shoving loose of the two.

"We have names!" Blue whined, "I'm Wani and this is Ari." When introduced green, Ari, gave a messy wave from where she had moved to pour shots.

Barb nodded and moved to head back into the crowd when Wani caught her arm and stared her down. "Fine," she jerked her arm sway and shot the girl a glare, "the names Barb."

Ari dissolved into snickers, "Barb! Not very scary."

"Hey, fuck y-"

"Whoa there! That's not the vibe we're going for here!"

Barb froze at the new voice, a voice she recognized because it had woken her up and been torturing her for the past 13 hours! She drew herself up to her full, not so intimidating, 5'5" and readied to give this obnoxious asshole a piece of her mind.

Turning around was the worst choice she could've made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well there's that! Here's some ages/majors for everyone:
> 
> Sophmores:  
> Lesly (legsly): 19/Middle School Education  
> Dickory: 19/Anthropology
> 
> Juniors:  
> Kpop Girls (Wani, Kim-Petit, Ari, Gomdori, Baby Bun): 20/Business Admin  
> Barb: 20/Finance  
> Riff: 20/Applied Mathematics  
> Sid: 20/Computer Science  
> Cooper: 20/Graphic Design  
> Prince D: 20/Music Production  
> Biggy: 21/Social Work  
> Guy Diamond: 20/Theater Arts  
> Xander (Trollex): 21/Music Production  
> Bridget: 20/Social Work
> 
> Seniors:  
> Reggaeton Group (Tresillo, Marimba, Tambora): 22/Dance  
> Carole: 21/Fine Art  
> Poppy: 21/Architecture&Interior Design (double major)  
> Suki: 21/Music Production  
> Hickory: 22/Psychology  
> Smidge: 20/Fitness&Nutrition (double major)  
> Satin: 21/Fashion Design&Marketing (double major)  
> Chenille: 21/Fashion Design&Accounting (double major)  
> Gristle: 22/Political Science
> 
> Grad students:  
> Creek: 23  
> Delta Dawn: 24/Agricultural sciences  
> Mozart (trollzart): 24/Music History
> 
> Other:  
> Cloud Guy: 26/drug dealer  
> Branch: 21/Carpentry (he went to a trade school and is working an apprenticeship nearby but lives with Poppy)


	3. Confetti Canons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back at it with the unplanned trolls fic!
> 
> In which Barb embarrasses herself because she is embarrassing

When she was younger Barb had taken her bike up Volcano Hill, the steepest incline in the whole town. Standing at the top, preparing for her descent, she had felt unstoppable. As she pushed off and picked up speed that feeling had been replaced with something that could only be described as, "Oh shit". When her front wheel hit a curb she was launched over the handlebars and sent tumbling into the bushes. Before anything else, before the pain and the crying and the humiliation, Barb was left with a moment of nothing. As she lay there she stared back up the hill she come from and had one clear thought, "Wow".  
She had to wait for her the concussion and broken leg to truly heal, but Barb was back on that hill again unable to resist chasing that feeling.

At 20 Barb had felt unstoppable, sometimes she even had that moment of "Oh Shit" follow along afterwards. Only now, face to face with the most gorgeous woman she'd seen in her entire life, did she feel that absolutely nothing again. A moment that filled her up and emptied her out in the same second.

"Wow."

The woman in front of her stood out even against the background of this wild and colorful party. Bright pink hair and matching eyes contrasted against brown skin and a body dotted with deeper brown freckles. The grin she wore showed off a small adorable gap between her front two teeth and Barb wanted to state at her under she could save the memory of that smile forever. Topping off the whole thing was that the she was nothing but a tiny pair of jean shorts, a white bikini top, and a rainbow visor.

"Wow yourself, stranger!" The overwhelming presence said, "I've never seen you around and trust me I'd remember if I had. The name's Poppy! Poppy King." 

Barb continued staring, apparently made mute in the face of perfection taking human form.

"Her names Barb," Ari announced as she handed shots to the four of them, "she's your neighbor!"

Poppy was wide-eyed and excited to begin with, but Barb watched as those eyes somehow grew even more. "NEIGHBOR!" The shot disappeared as the pinkette threw it back and Barb did the same, hoping to find her footing somewhere at the bottom of the glass. "Ahh, I'm so glad you could make it! Can I hug you?"

That request shocked Barb back to reality and she jumped back, throwing her hands up to ward off any physical contact. "N-no! I'm not-or hmm...yknow this whole thing..." Barb could feel her face burning up and in her embarrassment she could feel something else growing inside her. The much more familiar feeling of anger was a comfortable place for her and she leaned into it, desperate for familiar territory. "This whole thing is a real pain in the ass! I don't know if you think people don't need sleep, but your party has made it pretty much impossible."

Poppy's face went from excitement to confusion as she was face with Barb's mini eruption. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I thought we'd let you know so that-"

"Yeah well whatever you thought obviously you were wrong." Barb charged passed, bumping Poppy out of the way as she went. Once on the porch she realized she was holding a beer she'd picked up in the kitchen and angrily chucked it into the yard, ignoring the "ow" of someone outside of her field of vision. 

As she charged back to her house, whole body on fire, she let go of her anger to face the overwhelming embarrassment filled every part of her. She'd had crushes before and she'd handled them like a normal human being, but THAT was out of control. Her neighbor had made Barb feel something that she really didn't want to think about. As she threw herself onto her bed and screamed into her pillow her behavior at the party replayed in her head. Well, at least that ensured her neighbor wouldn't be in an rush to seek her out again anytime soon.

___________________

"Good morning!"

Barb screamed as the party popper went off, spraying a confetti in her face as she entered the kitchen. She stared in confusion as her roommates cackled at the table from behind cups of coffee and fancy looking muffins. Poppy King stood before her, orange mini-dress and rainbow cardigan making her the most colorful thing in the home.  
Barb couldn't grasp what was going on, it was only 9 am, and from what she could remember absolutely nothing about the night before should've led to this particular neighbor standing here. 

"I wanted to apologize for last night," Poppy started breezing through the kitchen and coming back with a muffin and coffee which she promptly offered to Barb. "I really didn't realize you hadn't known about the party and I feel like a total jerk!"

Barb nodded, lost, as she was guided to the table. The pinkette even pulled out a chair for her before sitting herself down and smiling sympathetically at Barb. "I woke up this morning and was lile Poppy you've got to set this right! We're neighbors we cant get off on the wrong foot, am I right? So I baked you these muffins, chocolate chip and banana, and brewed up my favorite coffee and I really hope you can accept them as a...hm...a peace offering!"

Shimmering hopeful eyes stared at her and Barb really had to look away, her attention falling on the homemade muffin. A cautious taste turned into huge bites and the delicious treat was gone in seconds. When she turned to attention back to Poppy, hoping she'd baked more than 1 per person, she remembered the real problem as the girls indulgent smile knocked the sense right out of her head. Only Riff awkwardly clearing his throat made Barb aware of her staring as she jerked her head to the side and ran her hands through her unstyled mohawk.

"It's fine, yeah. I was just annoyed yesterday, but as long as we're getting notice it's fine. Completely fine." Barb rambled.

"Alright! And you'll get more than notice cause you all have a standing invite to any parties happening at Pop Village!" Poppy announced, hands waving excitedly to compensate all of the roommates at the table.

Sid snickered and slumped forward, arms resting on the table, "You call your house Pop Village."

"YEAH, it started as a joke, but it really stuck," Poppy explained, "plus it really fits."

As the table engaged in small chat Barb couldn't stop feeling a bit trapped. Stuck between watching Poppy and feeling like her roommates were watching her watching Poppy she felt like she was being caught in a situation where she didn't even know what was happening yet.

"Don't you have classes." Barb burst out, effectively cutting off any conversation that had been building.

Poppy watched her for a moment before shaking her head, "Nah, I schedule everything on Tuesdays and Thursdays which makes them VERY long, but seriously worth the time off." For a moment Barb feared this meant Poppy would be staying hey kitchen, luckily the pinkette picked up on Barb's not-so-subtle hint. "But, I do have some other business to deal with this morning. Clean up, yknow, its a hassle!" 

As their guest stood, Barb was forced to jump up by a well aimed kick from Carole. She wanted to sit back down, but Poppy was already looking at her so instead she gestured to the hall and grit her teeth, "Let me see you out."

Poppy giggled and followed her, stopping with a little hop and a "Oh!" before she could actually leave, "Also, we're having a really small get together wednesday, just a semester's started game night thing and we'd love to have you!"

In her excitement Poppy had taken Barb's hands in her own, squeaking just a bit as Barb yanked them away. A moment of terrible awkward silence passed between two before Poppy forged ahead, giving Barb one last grin and a "I'd really be happy if you could make it" before heading out.

Barb slammed the door and covered her face as she melted towards the floor. Riff plodded out to her, observing that the mohawk now perfectly matched her face. He stood there in silence before Barb finally turned her face up to glare at him. "Was it bad?"

There are times in every friendship where you may think a lie would certainly be the kinder thing to say, but Riff shot for honesty anyway, "I mean, it was pretty painful to watch."  
And when she let herself fall over completely, groaning like a pained animal, he did the kind thing and lightly tapped her with his foot. "There there."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i write this directly into ao3 on my phone so honestly sorry for all the spelling grammar errors Im just not ever gonna do back and edit.
> 
> A little bit of Poppy this chapter! I think next chapter might focus more on her but idk who even knows

**Author's Note:**

> All korean was google translate so sorry if it's totally wrong!
> 
> Once again lmk how y'all feel about poly Poppy (who will probably appear next chapter idk i have no plans for this fic other than to have fun writing it)


End file.
